Never Alone
by Shadougelover14
Summary: 'Run little Aster, you better scream...the Boogieman's going to make you bleed...' ; A nightmare in the middle of the night can affect even the strongest of warriors... (rated T only for a little violence)


'_Run little Aster, you better scream,'_

_Aster pressed against a tree, eyes wide as he panted heavily. His ears could pick up the faint sound of feet walking slowly in his direction._

'_The Boogieman's going to make you bleed,'_

_The snap of a twig sent him racing off into the forest again, and a laugh followed him._

'_There's nowhere you can hide from me here, Aster! This is MY domain!'_

_A large wall of black sand suddenly shot up in front of him, forcing him to skid to a halt. It crashed down on him, and he vanished into the black for a moment, before he surfaced again. The sand wrapped around the lower half of his body, including his arms, and hardening into a solid black mass. Despite his desperate struggling, his arms stayed trapped, and he couldn't move anything from the waist down. A laugh caused him to look up at a tall dark figure with yellow eyes full of amusement, and upon seeing him, his struggles grew more desperate._

'_Now, now, don't get too worked up, old friend.' Pitch snickered, strolling up to the trapped Pooka._

'_Whatta you want, Pitch?!' Aster snapped, twisting in the sand's grip._

_Pitch smirked, and walked out of Aster's view, causing the Pooka to tense up._

'_I just wanted to see if you remembered the night the Man in the Moon decided to save you.'_

_Aster jumped a little, giving a soft gasp when he felt a cold hand on his back._

'_What about it?' he hissed, trying to stop a chill from going down his spine; he failed unfortunately, and he could picture the smirk on Pitch's face._

'_Do you remember what happened before that? Remember all the __**fun**__ we had?'_

_For a moment, Aster froze as his mind flashed back to that dark night, thousands of years ago…_

_He was brought out of his thoughts when Pitch's other hand gripped his shoulder, nails digging into his skin and making him wince._

'_I remember it quite well; I remember your screams, your pain, your __**fear**__…it was all so delicious.'_

_Aster shuddered a little, but froze again when he felt something sharp against his back._

'_P-Pitch…'_

'_Don't squirm around too much, this spear is very sharp.'_

'_Please don't, please-'_

'_Getting through bone might be a bit difficult; impaling your chest was much easier. Oh well...'_

'_Pitch PLEASE no-!'_

_He was cut off when he felt the spear get shoved into his back; it pierced him all the way through, and the tip stuck out of his chest. He didn't even get a chance to scream, and now he couldn't scream at all; it hurt too much. His back arched from the pain, and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He lurched forward as best he could in his trapped condition when the spear was twisted around, and a low whimper escaped him as he coughed out blood. Pitch's feet were suddenly in front of him, and he looked up at the man himself to see an amused gleam in the golden eyes. Pitch lifted one hand and placed it on Aster's head, smirking when he heard another soft whimper._

'_Is the pain familiar Aster? Does this make you relive that moment?'_

_Aster didn't give a response as he tried to get more air in his lungs, but it was a difficult task indeed._

'_Your life could end at any moment, your lungs are slowly filling with blood, and there's no one here to help you; you're alone. You always have been, and you always will be; I will make sure of that…'_

_Aster managed a weak glare, before spitting a mixture of blood and saliva at him. Pitch jumped back some, before glaring at the rabbit._

'_Very well, if you're going to behave like that…'_

_Pitch made a beckoning gesture with his hand, which left Aster confused at first, until he felt the spear suddenly start moving through him at a snail's pace. A scream escaped him as pain engulfed his chest._

'_P-Pitch…! St…stop…PLEASE…!'_

'_No, Aster, I won't stop. Not now, not ever; I will never stop until I've completely destroyed you from the inside out. And once I've finished with you, I'll do the same to your friends, one by one, starting with the little winter imp.'_

_Aster didn't get a chance to retort, as a quick jerk on the spear had him doubling over in agony, coughing up more blood. Pitch stepped closer, leaning in and murmuring softly in his large ear._

'_You're weak Aster; you couldn't protect your people, and you couldn't protect yourself,'_

_Aster winced, ears flattening against his head as he curled inward. He felt a prickling sensation in his eyes, and shut them tightly; he would NOT cry, not in front of Pitch._

'_And you won't be able to protect your friends, either.'_

'_SHUT UP!' Aster finally shouted._

'_Just shut up and leave me alone!'_

_Pitch smirked, before giving his head a pat, and stepping back. Aster glanced up at him suspiciously, and Pitch's smirk widened as he snapped his fingers. The black sand that had been keeping Aster immobilized suddenly shifted, and completely engulfed him._

_Everything was black, and he couldn't see anything for miles, but he could hear, and what he heard was sending chills up and down his spine. Screams filled his ears; screams of his friends and family from long ago, when Pitch attacked his home, and he could hear screams from the people he knew now; North, Tooth, Jack…he could even hear the Bennet children among them._

_Paws clamped firmly over his ears, Aster crouched down on his hind legs, trying to block out the painful noise. He couldn't though, as they still rang in his mind, and they were followed by images of everyone he knew and loved, past and present, dying in the most painful ways possible, their faces screwed up in agony._

_He couldn't take it anymore; his screams joined the dark chorus, tears falling freely from his eyes._

_Pitch was right, he was alone; always was, always will be; no one was even here to wake him up from this horror show-_

_A loud shout suddenly cut through the gloom of his mind._

"BUNNY!"

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Aster, or Bunny as he was normally called, snapped awake with a gasp. He was aware of a large figure looming over him, and he jumped back with a yell- and found himself rolling off a bed and hitting a wooden floor. Footsteps rushed in his direction, and the only thing he could manage to do, sadly, was curl up into a whimpering ball. A hand on his arm caused him to kick out with a yelp.

His foot came in contact with something, followed by a grunt of pain. The hand didn't leave his arm though, and another gripped his other arm and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Bunny, calm down, it is me!"

The familiar, thick Russian accent made him finally open his eyes, and he was met with the worried face of North.

"North…?" he finally mumbled.

"Are you alright?"

"What happened…where…?"

"You are at Pole, remember? We had meeting that ran late so I invited you to stay the night," North replied, before helping Bunny to his feet, and making him sit on the bed, "Are you alright?"

Bunny didn't respond; instead he just panted, keeping his wide green eyes on the floor. North put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped a little, meekly meeting his gaze.

"Bunny, what happened?"

"…Nothing…"

"Did not sound like nothing."

Bunny glanced up at him in slight confusion.

"I was going to kitchen for snack, but I heard sound from your room. I come in to investigate, and I find you crying in sleep. What happened?"

Bunny was silent for a moment, aside from his erratic breathing. North thought he wasn't going to answer at first, before a trembling voice spoke.

"It was Pitch…"

North slowly nodded, before he noticed Bunny holding a paw to his chest; as if there was something there.

"Bunny, what's wrong?"

"…I never really told ya what happened before Manny made me a Guardian, did I?"

"No, you did not…"

Bunny sighed, glancing out the nearby window at the moon.

"It was a long time ago, before you and the others came lookin' for me, but after…my village…"

"What happened?"

Bunny shivered, the hand on his chest curling into a fist.

"Pitch came after me one night…knocked me around some…then decided to see how many times he could stab me 'fore I…"

Bunny cut himself off, and North could feel him trembling as he tried to calm down. North was silent for a moment, before speaking.

"Pitch…he killed you?"

Bunny gave small nod, and shuddered a little.

"…He stabbed you…in chest?"

Bunny winced a little, rubbing at his chest, and North took that as a yes.

"Right through the heart…" the Pooka murmured.

"…I am sorry old friend…is that what nightmare was about?"

Bunny shuddered again, ears flattening against his head as he took a shaky breath.

"I was alone…I'm always alone...I've always been alone…" he finally murmured, a soft sob following.

North stared at him in surprise; he'd never seen the Pooka like this before.

"I'm alone, I deserve to be…I couldn't protect anyone, I couldn't even protect myself…I'm not a Guardian…"

Bunny let out another sob, but jumped when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. He glanced up at North, who was frowning at him.

"Bunny, you deserve many things, but not one of them is being alone. And you are not alone, you have us, and so long as you are Guardian…so long as you are our friend, you will never be alone."

Bunny stared up at him in shock, and North gave a smile as he nodded, before giving Bunny's shoulder a pat and then standing.

"Get some rest my friend, I will send Sandy in when he returns." He announced, starting towards the door.

"N-no, don't leave!" Bunny yelled.

North glanced back at him in surprise.

"Bunny?"

"I…I just…"

Bunny trailed off for a moment, before glancing at the floor sheepishly.

"I'm scared…"

North gave a chuckle, before grabbing a chair that was in the room, and pulling it near the bed.

"Very well, you rest, and I will wait for Sandy to return."

Bunny gave a small nod, and settled back on the bed. After a few minutes, he glanced at North.

"We don't mention this to anyone, mate. 'Specially not Frostbite."

"Da, I get it, now rest."

Bunny was already shutting his eyes before North had even finished the sentence…

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

This was an entry for a DA contest, but I figured I'd post it here too.

That first half was creepy to write, even for me! And as for the creepy rhyme from Pitch, just imagine that to the tune of Hush Little Baby…yeesh, I just scared myself…

And I noticed there aren't a whole lot of stories with North and Bunnymund having some bonding time, so I thought I'd help with that. Originally it was gonna be Jack, but I went with North instead because of the aforementioned problem. I hope you enjoyed it…well, as much as you can enjoy the moment I write between Pitch and Bunny…why do I always make Pitch so cruel? Anyway, leave reviews, and wish me luck in the contest!


End file.
